DETERMINATION OF SOME HEAVY METALS

Global mortality and morbidity due to environmental pollution are on the increase while a substantial proportion of the total burden of diseases have also been linked to environmental factors among which is human exposure to toxic chemicals through anthropogenic activities. Quarrying is a form of mining activity with associated environmental and health consequences; the extraction processes cause the release of heavy metals into the air and groundwater of host communities. In this study some heavy metals in water soil and blood samples of workers at a quarry site in Kano were determined. Five milliliters of venous blood were collected from eleven Quarry workers of Gerawa Quarry site Kano. Five (5) liters of each water samples (borehole water and pond water) were collected from the two water sources in the Gerawa quarry site using separate clean plastic containers. Soil samples were collected from top soil at the depth of 15 cm using soil auger. Care was taken to avoid contamination of the samples.